Vail Daily column: Vail Chamber: We are fortunate to have events such as the Burton U.S. Open come to Vail

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Vail Village is a wonderful place and I am continually reminded of how lucky we are to call it home. I am writing this column from my office in Solaris, where I can barely see the Burton U.S. Open half-pipe from my window because we are in the midst of our third consecutive Friday snowstorm. I hope many of you enjoyed watching the best-of-the-best snowboard athletes compete to win snowboarding's original international event. The U.S. Open is one of many events in our hometown that receives international television coverage, contributing to an increase in our notoriety on the international stage. It is estimated that the Saturday and Sunday combined totals will show that approximately 60,000 visitors came to town for the event.We are a very fortunate community to be able to attract international events and visitors to our small town on a regular basis. In my daily routine around Vail Village I speak with many people from all sectors of the business community about these events: What it takes to host them, to fund them, to clean up after them and what benefits we as a community get from them. I have found that there is a wide range of opinion on their merits. Many say that they could not be happier to host these groups again each year and cannot wait for them to come back. Others, however, lament like the art gallery manager who told me last week that this event is not for their business. Their opinion of the U.S. Open was very disappointing to me. Vail's diversity of events matches the diversity of its guests. We host symphonies and orchestras. We have regular farmers markets, film festivals, internationally acclaimed dance troupes and a tremendously wide range of popular music, from hip-hop to country. We host volleyball players and kayakers. We host professional cyclists, skiers and snowboarders. In short, we host something for everyone. Not every event draws a particular client to town, but this tremendously wide variety of events does draw a tremendously wide variety of clients. Our event organizers, volunteers and community boards should be commended for not just creating and executing so many great events that attract great attention and notoriety, but these events create goodwill and speak to a wider demographic than any one event could possibly speak to on its own. We have all heard the expression that all ships rise with the tide. I do not think that there is a more poignant example of this than the benefits that our overall business community receives from these events and the huge crowds that these events draw.I hope that in addition to the great weekend of free world-class entertainment that came our way, that our business community had a great weekend of business. Please remember this if the U.S. Open was "not your event." Please be patient as "your event" is probably coming up next.The Vail Chamber & Business Association is the leading business advocacy group in Vail and is a communications outlet for businesses that want to have a voice in community affairs. If you are interested in finding out more about the Vail Chamber & Business Association and what we have to offer to businesses in and that do business in Vail, please contact us at 970-477-0075 or email info@vailchamber.org. Based in Vail Village, our office is located on the top level of the Vail Transportation Center. Stop by and say hello!Stay involved and stay informed. If you are not already receiving the VCBA weekly e-newsletter, all you need to do is email us at info@vailchamber.org to start receiving it.Craig Cohn is the director of residential and commercial sales and leasing for Solaris and a Vail Chamber and Business Association board member.